Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
We lapsed into silence, and thankfully, Ava let me be alone with my thoughts, something that I knew was hard for her. As I replayed our kiss, I fidgeted in my seat. Now that the initial shock had worn off, remorse was flowing through me. What had I been thinking? Did it really only take me one shot and the thrill of running away from danger to kiss my boss? And it wasn’t like I just kissed him. If I had it my way, Alexander and I would probably be making passionate love under the moonlight right now.
Hot shame made my stomach hurt as I fretted over how I was going to face Alexander again. It was probably for the best that I had misunderstood Alexander about the exchange of money. Even though the fact that our time was cut short made my heart lower in a way that it had never done before.
Ava could sense my depressed mood, and she put her arm around me. As she was rubbing my arm gently, she noticed the shopping bag on the floor in the place that I had dropped it when I came in. The contents had spilled out of it. Bread, whiskey, and condoms were spilling out of it. My face flushed. Would my embarrassment ever end?
“Wow, you definitely prepared to spend the night with Alexander,” she said and nodded her head approvingly.
“No, it’s not what you think.” I sighed, too tired to explain the strange assortment of items.
My friend squeezed my shoulder, and I got a whiff of her strawberry lemon scented shampoo. The smell was reassuringly familiar. “Don’t be too sad. Alexander is obsessed with you. You will get many more chances with him,” she said.
I didn’t say anything as a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed me.
Ava seemed to sense that I was too tired to walk to my bedroom, so she brought out a pillow and blanket and tucked me in on the couch. I mumbled a quiet thanks and immediately drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up with my head pounding like someone had hit me with a hammer repeatedly as I slept. I looked at my phone and saw that it was still pretty early, so I rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. But when I closed my eyes, images from last night flooded into my head. Having dinner with Alexander, the mysterious bottle of wine, and our confusion at the convenience store.
But the thing that I remembered the most clearly was our kiss under the moonlight. I shivered as I recalled his warm touch, his searing kisses, and his strong hands as they roamed all over my body. Just thinking about our time under the moonlight last night made my body hungry for more.
My rational mind had a completely different reaction than my body. Panic and regret was spreading throughout my body like a disease, infecting my heart so it began to pound against my chest and making my stomach sick as I thought about how it would be impossible to look Alexander in the face again.
How was I supposed to work for a man that I had rolled around on the ground with? What had come over me last night? I could hardly blame it on the alcohol. I’d only had one shot. It was like Alexander himself had drugged me with his dark eyes, muscular body, and sultry voice. But it went even deeper than his good looks. The sizzling chemistry between us made my legs tremble from just thinking about it.
A knock on the door distracted me from my thoughts. Unsteadily, I stood, walked to the door, and opened it without looking through the peephole.
That had been a mistake.
Standing in the hallway was my ex-husband.
His hair was tousled, and there were dark, purplish bruises under his eyes like he hadn’t slept at all last night. The wild look on his eyes made my stomach stiffen with fear.
Before he could say anything, I tried to shut the door on him, but Ethan must have known I would try to close it. His hand shot out, and he thrust the door wide open. With his eyes boring into mine, he leaned forward until our faces were inches apart.
My pulse quickened, and I froze with terror.
“You’re going to want to speak with me, Olivia,” he murmured in a low, dangerous voice.
*Olivia*
A jolt of anxiety went down my spine, and I immediately went into flight or fight mode. I put my hands on his bulky chest and tried to push him out of the doorway so that I would be able to close the door, but I would have had more success with a brick wall.
Ethan huffed out an annoyed breath like my terror was an inconvenience to him.
I narrowed my eyes and hatred for my ex-husband flowed through me. My anger toward him was so strong that my hands shook and my teeth gritted.
Ethan forced the door open and came into my hotel room like he owned the place.
My hands clenched into my fists, and I had to resist the urge to punch him. I didn’t want to give him an excuse to call the cops. But if he tried anything, all bets were off, and I was going to knee him in the balls and then scratch his eyes out. Because of my splitting headache, I wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit today.
My throat became dry, so I went into the kitchen to get something to drink, but Ethan grabbed my hand and yanked me back to him.
As my skin tingled with fear, I tried to rip my hand out of his strong gasp, but he was too strong. My anxiety increased as he tightened his hand. One of my biggest fears was being trapped, and Ehran was well aware of this. He was using this knowledge against me. “What the hell is your problem?” I demanded. “Why are you being so pushy?”
Ethan’s expression softened, and he let go of my wrist. When he let go, my blood pulsed painfully back up my arm because he had cut off the blood flow to my hand
I glared at him as I rubbed my wrist.
There was a tiny amount of regret in his eyes as he looked at me, but I didn’t care. He shouldn’t have tried to restrain me in the first place.
Then, Ethan’s expression changed as he looked at my collarbone. A suspicious frown crossed his face.
My cheeks heated as I guessed what had caught his attention.
A hickey I’d gotten as a souvenir from last night.
Even though I hadn’t been able to look in a mirror this morning yet, Alexander had been kissing my neck when we were lying under that oak tree last night. I didn’t remember the exact moment when he could have left a mark on me, but it was definitely a possibility.
Especially because of the way Ethan was seething with jealousy. His face was turning red, and I could practically see steam coming out of his nose. But how could he have the audacity to be jealous? He was the one who had a mistress during our marriage.
With an animalistic grunt, Ethan reached for my collar.
My pulse quickened, and I backed away from him. “Don’t you dare touch me again!” I yelled. If you do, I’ll call the police.”
He completely ignored my threat as if he hadn’t even heard me. Ethan reached forward and tugged the collar of my shirt down. His eyes widened with rage at the three red hickeys prominent against my pale skin.
“You whore,” he snapped and gripped my arms so hard that I gasped out in pain.
But my distress just seemed to spur him on as he squeezed my skin as hard as he could. The room started to spin and I was convinced that he was about to rip my arms out of their sockets.
“Get off of me!” I screamed and my hand shot up and I smacked him across the face.
This made him let go, but then he pulled me close against his chest. His familiar sharp cologne made me gag and I tried to struggle away from him.
“Did you fuck another man last night?” he demanded as he looked down at me with rage.
I scoffed and tried to put on a brave face even though my heart was pounding with anxiety. “That’s really none of your business, is it?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied coldly. “When we got divorced, you promised never to be with another man.”
My hands shook with anger and I attempted to push him away again, but he was too strong. “Oh, get over yourself, Ethan. You think that you’re this big, strong man. But inside you’re just an insecure little boy.” I was no longer scared of him. I was beyond pissed that Ethan had forced himself in my hotel room just to push me around. “I’m at free woman. Just because I had once made the mistake of marrying you doesn’t mean that I have to be a nun for the rest of my life.”
“I know that you were with that asshole Alexander last night,” he growled, changing his tactic. “I didn’t know that you were such a gold digger.”
I didn’t take his bait. “Yeah and? Alexander and I are both single. I spent the night with him and it was the best night I’ve ever had. Way better than any night I had to endure with you.”
Instead of angering him further-which had been my intention-my admission made Ethan finally let go of me and his eyes became red and his mouth trembled.
I crossed my arms and glowered at him. His mood swings were even worse than Alexander’s.
“Please, you can’t let Alexander use you. He’s just toying with your feelings and he just wants a pretty girl to keep his bed warm at night. He will never marry you,” he said.
His words made my eyes flash with anger. Ethan had this situation all wrong. If last night were any indication, I was the one who had kissed Alexander and he was the one to stop it. If anything, I was toying with Alexander’s emotions, not the other way around.
Ethan gently put his hands on my shoulders as if that could make up for the way he was manhandling me a few moments ago. “Listen, you know that I have always loved you. That I will always love you. I know that I’ve made some mistakes, but I’m willing to take responsibility for them to get you back.”
His confession made bile rise to my throat. “Ethan, you’re just embarrassing yourself. Didn’t you promise not to dwell after our divorce was finalized?”
“I was forced into our divorce! You know that,” he said vehemently. He was breathing hard, but he seemed to force himself to calm down before continuing. “Why don’t we just try to be friends first? Get to know each other again. You know that deep down in your heart, Alexander is never going to marry you. He has family obligations to uphold. He has to marry a girl that his family would approve of. And, I’m sorry, Olivia, but the Green’s wouldn’t approve of him marrying a girl of your background. Alexander will marry someone like Naomi Wright.”
His words made my stomach stiffen.
Ethan slowly raised his hand and trailed his fingers down my cheek. “Could you really be satisfied just being Alexander’s mistress?”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?